Diane
Our first day navigating the trains, and we managed to get where we were going at the right times and in the right places!! I keep thinking there must be elevators on the platforms so old folks can get from one to another without all that dragging luggage up and down, but we didn’t see any. We also walked from the train station to the hotel, which really surprised the receptionist. We’ll be taking taxis back to the train station, for sure.
Nice to see the countryside along the train route, but it looked extremely dry. Even Dan (our resident farmer) didn’t recognize much beyond the corn, so we don’t know what they were growing. There were lots of stands of poplar trees, all arranged in perfectly straight rows, which our guide back in Barcelona said are used for paper pulp.
Carcassonne is absolutely overrun with tourists! I’d hate to see what the place looks like in August. We wandered up through the wall to get lunch but it was already 3pm, and that means TROUBLE. The French stop serving lunch at 3, so we had to go to a ridiculously touristy eatery that gives French food a bad name. We’ll have to do better tomorrow.
Following your trek – you are such brave souls to navigate transportation/luggage/walking – very inspiring but you do look a bit weary! So worth it though!! Carcassonne looks amazing! On the map, your path turned left at Narbonne – another memory for me. What’s the weather like? It seems beautiful in your pix.
We ARE a bit weary. My calves may never be the same. More about Carcassonne shortly. We had a few minutes of rain but not much. Otherwise, it’s been great. And not too hot, either. Given that it was 106 degrees in Avignon less than two weeks ago, we’re thrilled.